Press Releases

In the original version of a news release yesterday summarizing the latest state legislative expenditure data posted at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center reported that the Assembly had “prematurely” begun paying salaries to three members chosen in the 2016 general election to fill seats vacated before those elections, after having similarly begun payments to members elected to already vacated seats in the 2014 general election. Read More

Three members of the state Assembly were added to the state payroll after their November 2016 elections, allowing them to collect almost $17,000 in extra pay, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The state should halt new technology funding grants under the 2014 Smart Schools bond act, and revise and “reboot” the program guidelines before resuming, according to a released today by the Empire Center. Read More

Nearly two-thirds (264) of the 420 firefighters and fire officers who retired from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) during 2016 are eligible to collect pensions of at least $100,000, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

More than 300 New York City government employees more than doubled their pay with overtime during the city’s 2017 fiscal year, according to the latest payroll data added to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The number of retirees receiving pensions over $100,000 from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) continued to increase during the system’s 2017 fiscal year, according to data uploaded today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. A total of 3,817 retirees collected pensions over $100,000 during the fiscal year ending March 31. Read More

Former Assembly member Richard Brodsky and the Empire Center’s E.J. McMahon have sent a joint letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, legislative leaders and the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), urging the state to redirect up to $4 billion in unspent financial penalty settlement funds to help finance desperately needed subway repairs as well as highway and bridge work. Read More

A $500,000 grant to support a solar-powered carousel in Buffalo—raising that project’s total taxpayer subsidy to more than $1 million—was among the 1,782 local pork barrel projects awarded grants by state lawmakers in the final hours of their 2017 regular session. Read More

The 48,346-employee payroll of New York City’s fiscally stressed Health and Hospitals Corporation swelled to $2.9 billion last year, a 16 percent jump from $2.5 billion in 2014, according to data added today to SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The Empire Center’s unique online “Explore Your State Budget” app has been updated to reflect data in the enacted fiscal 2018 budget. Read More

At least 849 public employees have received special permission to collect government paychecks while also collecting public pensions, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

Nearly half of the 669 school districts seeking voter approval for budgets on Tuesday, May 16 are presenting spending plans that call for increasing property taxes as high as the 2011 property tax cap law allows, according to an analysis released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More